Skyward Specialty Insurance has announced the acquisition of Apollo Group Holdings for a total consideration of US$555 million from Alchemy, management, employees, and other investors. US$371 million will be paid in cash, and US$184 million of stock consideration paid to investors, with committed debt financing in place, in addition to the deal being expected to add more than US$1.5 billion of managed premium. Apollo’s growth and development lead, CEO David Ibeson, will join Skyward Specialty and continue to lead the Apollo business, where he has been since 2012. Commenting on the move, Skyward chairman and CEO, Andrew Robinson, says: “The acquisition is exceptionally well aligned to Skyward Specialty’s strategy, bringing new specialty niches, a distinctive new economy offering, accelerating innovation, and adding Apollo’s advanced technology capabilities,” and that “we are delighted to acquire Apollo”. Ibeson adds: “We have been building a relationship with Skyward Specialty for nearly two years, and during that time, we have had a number of opportunities to collaborate. We very quickly understood that we had a common view of the future of the specialty market and a shared understanding of how to position our respective organisations to win.” Barclays acted as a financial advisor to Skyward, committing financing for the transaction, with RPC acting as legal counsel to the company, in addition to Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as financial advisor to Apollo, with Willkie Farr & Gallagher acting as its legal counsel. Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
